Seven Stories

Chapter 16: Twin Journeys

Lucian set his glass down on the counter. He was in a booth, far from the tumult of the bar's main room. This was nothing like the inn they had briefly stayed in on the Territory of Shadows. Back there the lights were weak and a spot where you could be unseen was easy to find.

But here, on this Territory, it seemed impossible to avoid light. It was reflected everywhere, on every white surface. And there seemed to be nothing but white here. Not quite, he thought, how he had pictured the fearsome "Grounds of War".

"Can I get some of that?"

Lucian glared at his brother. The young man was sunken into his seat and looked longingly at the glass on the table. Lucian slid it towards him.

"Do you even know what it is?"

"Smells like ethanol. That's good enough for me."

Somewhere in the bar, someone laughed a rough, deep laugh that shook the walls. Lucian did not care enough to look for the giant that might have produced it. Almost instantly, Laya appeared by their table, carrying two glasses filled with an orange liquid, a thin smile on her lips. She was closely followed by Ikan, who had two glasses of his own in his hands. Timothy looked down at the blue alcohol underneath his nose.

"Who are those for?" he asked in a voice tainted with hope.

"It's orange juice," Laya told him. "Two of them are for us, the other two are for Lii and Karen. They should be back soon."

Lucian straightened up in his seat. "They are?" he asked. "Did you see them?"

Laya nodded and pointed to Ikan with a finger. Then she sat next to Timothy, who had no choice but to give her more room.

"I did," Ikan said. "Lii and I were visiting Karen, and we found she had almost set herself on fire with her powers. Then Lii took her to the Shaman and I ran into Laya on the way here."

"I was purchasing some stuff," Laya explained. "We can't stay in this town, and now that Karen's good to go we'll be out soon."

"Why can't we stay in this town?" Timothy asked. "I like it. Nobody's tried to kill us."

"So far."

Lucian shot Ikan a grim look, but the young man did not notice. He was looking towards the doors of the bar, where two familiar silhouettes fumbled with white coats. It seemed to be raining outside. A cascade of golden hair ran out of the first hood as it was lowered, then the second came off, too, and they could see Karen's bright black eyes run across the room.

Lii spotted them first. She put a delicate hand on Karen's shoulder and showed her where the four others sat. Karen nodded and started walking towards them, as Lii folded the coats. Lucian tried to catch her eyes, but she was suddenly unbelievably careful to make everything fold neatly into a rectangular shape. She was failing.

"Hey," Karen said upon reaching the table.

Everyone answered a "Hey" back, including Laya. The little Queen of the Shadow Territory sat at the booth, right next to Lucian. She looked drained of her energy. Ikan put a hand on her forearm and she briefly glanced at him.

"Let me get this straight, just so I know the Shaman didn't give me something hallucinogenic."

Lii had caught up with her. She threw two rolled up white coats on the table angrily; Lucian couldn't help but smile. She swatted Ikan's hand away from her friend and sat next to her. Ikan glanced down at her, and for the briefest instant, Lucian thought he could read a shade of annoyance he hadn't yet since in the boy's eyes since he had woken up. He looked as though he was about to protest, but Laya reached out to his sleeve and pulled him down next to her, rolling her eyes. Ikan's face was a mask of shock. He would have to get used to Laya's new behavior, Lucian thought.